A Little Toil of Love
by Nymph-Patronus
Summary: James Potter loves Lily Evans, but how can he express his feelings when he knows she'll reject him? However, an Imperial Being helps him in finding the right path. He at last has the pleasure of meeting an elegent Ghost.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:** A story very unlike my usual style. Mystery is still there but I have done a lot of experimenting. I wasn't very sure when I started but then I got involved and here it is:_

**---------------------------------  
- A Little Toil of Love -  
---------------------------------**

**_- Prologue -_**

* * *

_I had no time to hate, because  
The grave would hinder me,  
And life was not so ample I  
Could finish enmity. 

Nor I had time to love; but since  
Some industry must be,  
The little toil of love, I thought,  
Was large enough for me. 

_

_- (Emily Dickinson)_

An ethereal body reckoned thoughtfully, hovering in the empty Library.

_Tomorrow was that day again..._

-x-

Tree leaves rustled along with the low breeze of the night. The Forbidden Forest breathed rhythmically alongside all of its unusual inhabitants. Dark shadows elongated and diminished across the occasional clear stretches of the forest, making haphazard shapes on the protruding roots and uneven earth.

The wind swirled about the forest spine breathing along it.

Blackness widened.

A howl reverberated.

Few ears swiveled towards the noise.

A pair of hazel eyes stared fleetingly at a pair of bright amber ones.

A sharp wolfish howl rang through the forest again--a little more daunting than before--stopping a sturdy stag in mid canter. Its body tensed, ears erect, as if expecting something.

A black shadow, blacker than the midnight sky, bounded in view, blocking the stellar lights for a while, stopping an advancing monstrous figure on its tracks with a playful bark.

The werewolf bared its teeth and snarled challengingly.

The stag shook its crowned head with a low grunt.

A rat skidded to halt in front of the werewolf and jumped onto the dog's back, while it crouched low beside it.

The unusual trio watched the werewolf closely, evidently waiting for a sign.

A bellowed howl rang through the forest again, and as if on cue the dog and the stag plunged into the deep embrace of the forest, the monstrous werewolf hard on their tails.

Whenever the werewolf got close to either the dog or the stag, it snapped its jaws threateningly causing them to put of a burst of speed and sprint even faster.

The chase continued until they reached the Shrieking Shack, where the odd group at last ended the Marauder's game of _Full Moon._

The dog barked in the general direction of the swishing braches of the Whomping Willow. The rat, in response, scuttled towards a knot at the base of the tree and pounced on it, opening a gap making the branches freeze. It disappeared into the fissure, closely followed by the unlikely group of dog, stag and werewolf.

It was almost twilight. The stars dimmed and the moon disappeared in the folds of the wallowing clouds. The werewolf lost its raggedy sense of destroying everything in sight with the passing ticks of time.

-x-


	2. 1

**-- _1 _--**

* * *

"We should head back to the dormitories," James said, transforming from Prongs. 

Padfoot gave a little wiggle accompanied by a long toothy yawn in the direction of Wormtail, whose mousy head was peeking from above the highest cabinet of the room.

"You caaan come down nOoow Wormyy," Sirius said after completing his transformation, continuing the long yawn of Padfoot's.

A faint squeak sounded from where Wormtail was hiding and a fat, bloated pickled onion thudded to the floor from the cabinet.

James and Sirius exchanged looks hiding their chuckles in a coughing bout, one looking above the cabinet while the other observed the transforming figure of Moony in a corner, silently changing to his pale human self.

"Why do you ever listen to that fraud Trelawney, Pete? Okay, so she's a senior; you must know that predicting everyone's death is her favorite hobby?" Sirius inquired exasperatedly.

"Your life is not in danger! And a pickled onion is not going to save you even if it were. Moony will never harm us!" Sirius exclaimed while James stared pointedly at the mousy head of Wormtail, which was slightly twitching in worry seeing the audience below.

Moony grunted in response from where he was sprawled. His transformation was almost complete; the facial hair was gone and the snout was retreating; however, the amber eyes of the werewolf still prevailed.

"See?" said James, as if settling a big dispute.

Wormtail flounced down from the cupboard and transformed into Peter grinning at them sheepishly.

"What's for dinner? I'm starving!" Sirius said massaging his stomach, successfully steering the conversation away from dangerous grounds.

"Er... marshmallows," Peter said in a very small voice.

"WHAT!" Sirius and Moony roared together, but Moony was more successful in getting the message across. In his outburst he had ripped the sheet he was crouched on producing a teeth tickling sound making all of them wince. His semi-wolfish nails tore away the seams unabashedly, causing Peter to shrink even more.

"Er... I can always go and nick some food from the kitchen," James provided helpfully, casting an apologetic glance at Peter.

"And what do you suppose we'll tell Pomfrey when she comes waddling in a few hours? That we dropped for some tea?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

"Well, no," James said lowering his voice, so that only Sirius and Peter could hear, "we can always use my cloak to hide us whenever she comes. You don't suppose we can leave Moony when he's in such a bad mood?" James finished questioningly.

Sirius's eyes softened as he stared at the crumpled form of Remus, bowing his head low on the tattered sheet while Peter's jitters abated.

"Well then, get going, mate. I'm not eating another morsel of marshmallow again!" Sirius said loudly, feigning a huffy voice while staring meaningfully at James. Moony growled in approval and Peter whimpered hurtfully, not unlike that God-awful elf of Padfoot's named Kreacher.

"Pete, you know we haven't got anything against them, but just tell me how many months does it take for a man to get his marshmallow love saturated?" James asked, cocking his eyebrow at Peter.

"We've been eating them for _ages,_" Sirius provided.

"It's settled then, I'll fetch us some food," James said brightly grinning at Peter, who in turn grinned stupidly back.

"No harm does it," Sirius muttered from the corner of his mouth elbowing James, who in turn examined the Marauder's Map for any hurdles. His eyes fell upon the blinking dot labeled 'Severus Snape,' which was stationary in a room on the third floor.

James remembered that they had come across it during their exploration of every nook and cranny of Hogwarts and just by looking at the odd looking lock on the door they had agreed upon the fact that it was too boring for further investigation.

_What _is_ Snivellus doing up so early?_ his mind pounded.

"Something interesting, Prongs?" Sirius asked, his eyes glimmering wickedly.

"Er... no, Padfoot. I was just looking at Evans," James replied. He didn't know, what made him lie because he never lied to his friends, especially not to Sirius. However, the situation seemed to call upon a lonesome stroll.

Sirius sighed derisively. "James! Mate, she's not interested... don't you remember the last time you tried to--"

"Yeah, yeah! Never mind," James said dejectedly, the OWLs incident flashing through his mind. "I'll just be a while," he said, readying himself for the journey.

"Don't tell me... you are going to try entering Girl's Dormitory _again_?" Sirius said in mock exasperation, his hands resting on the smalls of his back in a perfect display of Lily's usual attitude.

James grinned in spite of the fact that he hated Sirius's 'Lily mockery'.

"NO. I'll tell you later." He wheeled about with an air of finality, and in a matter of seconds was plunging down the tunnel and towards the school grounds clutching his invisibility cloak, forgetting the fact that he was supposed to nick food from the kitchen.

-x-

_**A/N: **Thanks Holsy for the review._


	3. 2

**A/N: **Thank you readers for such wonderful reviews.

_**chip,** As much as I like Lupin, I wasn't able to get a lot of him in this fic as it's basically relates to James and Lily. It's a shorty, so now only Epilogue is remaining. You can check out my other fic 'Shadows of the Watchgate' to get more of Lupin, as there's lots. Thank you for the feedback._

_**Cliverblood, **Thank you for dropping by and sharing your reviews._

_**Holsy,** At last you get to see the Ghosty ;) It's how I imagined Grey Lady. She's been very mysterious to me and I wrote this just to quench that curiosity. ;) Obviously it was all hypothetical. Thank you for liking it._

_**Buck,** Thank you for your review and enthusiasm, which is always very much welcome. :smiles:_

_**Brian,** I don't know how you did it, (posting twice that is) but thank you for liking the story none the same._

* * *

**-- _2 _--**

* * *

James treaded softly on the third floor corridor. He quickly sidled behind the nearest column and peeked to see Snape coming towards him with a dazed expression plastered on his face. He hid behind the column and was relieved to find that his arch nemesis hadn't noticed him. He wasn't even walking with his usual saunter, which was strange as after six years of rivalry James knew him as well as he knew Peter. 

However, all such thoughts vanished from his mind when he heard the most mystical and haunting sound pouring through the nearby door, which was slightly ajar.

He hesitantly entered the enormous expanses of the unknown room, which gave the first impression of being a ballroom. The surreal music showered on him making him completely intoxicated. He drunkenly lumbered towards its source leaving soft tapping sound on the polished marble floor.

A large platform was glimmering in the light of rainbow-colored torches illuminating a corner of the room, while darkness dominated the rest. A golden harp was playing by itself on the center stage as if invisible hands were stroking their strings. Wavering torches danced along in rhythm. The entire room seemed to come alive and sway along the compelling resonance of the harp.

James felt happiness and pain; joy, angst, and contentment along such severe sadness that reluctant tears formed in his eyes. He was somehow experiencing total bliss and agony simultaneously.

"Oh, not _again_!" a melodious voice clinched in annoyance.

The music stopped and left the room so empty that if the tears that had formed in his eyes were let loose he would have heard them fall to the ground. The whole atmosphere along with the air, torches, chandeliers, coat of arms and statues seemed to scowl at his encroaching figure for disturbing their secret lullaby.

"Go away! You do not have any business here." The same evocative voice sounded from a dim corner of the room.

It felt as if someone had slapped him hard without a second thought. However his curiosity persisted and got the better of him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Are all sixth-years as meddlesome as you?" the silky voice enquired, coming a little closer so that he was able to see a hazy but regal silhouette against the twilight sky that spilled through the open window.

"_Oh, so that's what happened to Snivellus!_" James muttered, realizing the reason behind Snape's blank stare while running his hands through his hair absent-mindedly.

His confidence and charming demeanor soon returned after discerning the fact that he was actually talking to a lady; _'a Mysterious Lady,'_ he added to himself as an afterthought.

"You are no better than him. I think you are worse." The voice had a tinge of amusement in it.

"Now look here, Miss..." James said awkwardly, raking his mind for something clever. _"Your line of thinking sure resembles Evans',"_ he whispered to himself in dismay.

"Is Evans a girl?" she asked sashaying towards him, revealing her gossamer but imperial profile.

"You are a ghost!" James gasped in shock.

"What did you expect? A stray banshee?" she asked icily hovering dangerously close to him, her ethereal tresses swelling about her face enchantingly. She was majestically beautiful with almond shaped eyes, stately nose and rose-petal lips encased in a diamond shaped visage.

"You are the Ravenclaw Ghost!" James said in awe.

"Thanks for informing me; I _really_ didn't know," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and hovering towards the nearest window.

"Please, don't go!" James pleaded with her.

There must have been something in his voice, which caused her to stay and examine him closely. She studied him as if finding something familiar--hidden under too many folds.

However with her long and hard experience, she was able to judge him instantly. "You are not what you pretend to be, boy. You are too confident for your own good," she said omnisciently, while staring directly at him.

"I'm no _boy_. My name is James... James Potter," he said diffidently.

She looked at him intently as if deciding something, while he stared at everything except the specter in front of him.

"Let me tell you a story, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you'll learn something important from it."

James became all ears as he listened to her unearthly voice.

"Thousands of years ago, there lived a man, who didn't know that he would leave such a prominent mark on the wizarding world. He had such presence that wherever he went, people followed and looked up to him in awe. Almost everything about him was perfect and enigmatic to the hilt. He had everything anyone could ever wish for: a loving family, wife, friends..." she faltered but continued after a pause, "With the course of time, something happened to that wizard. He became proud of his skills and started looking down upon the same people who almost worshiped him because they thought he was kind and just; which he originally was, but the dark roots of greed and power clouded his heart and mind, and a day came when it completely engulfed his heart with black, power-hungry blood. His downfall came soon after because all his loving companions deserted him. He was left alone and went into hiding, and was written down in the history as a cunning, conniving, evil wizard."

She turned her back to him and continued while looking out of the nearby window, "I was one of those who deserted him forever and now when I think about it, I should have tried to reason with him. I shouldn't have left so soon..." she trailed off with a sigh, absentmindedly reaching for her eyes. She dropped her hand with a derisive laugh.

"I still can't get used to the fact that I can't cry." She gave a dry sob, looking at her splayed translucent hands. That was when James noticed a tattoo at the back of her hand shaped like a coiled snake.

Comprehension dawned on him, as his eyes widened in shock. "Are you the wife of--"

"Shhhh!" She touched his lips with one cold finger making him shudder.

Suddenly he was transported from the ballroom and was going through her life with the speed of light. She was somehow making him glimpse her life that has gone by.

As the sudden flashes slowed down, he was able to see:

Her first chance meeting with the one she loved at a party. She was helping a girlfriend in finding her match with her body-divination powers but happened to come about her own in the form of a handsome prince with jet-black hair and gracious features.

Her wedding day; she, standing proud, looking breathtakingly beautiful along with the handsome wizard who was placing a ring upon her finger...

The married couple drinking wine with friends and toasting away...

She, strolling along with her husband in an immaculate garden over-looking a lake...

She, secretly eavesdropping on a conversation of her husband with his followers...

She, watching from a distance the increasing arrogance of her husband towards his friends in a gathering...

She, writing her last letter to him...

_You have gone to a place, from where I can't bring you back. I can't live to see you perish in your own malice. I don't see my Zar in you anymore; the one I loved deeply, the one I married and the one who only lives in the confinements of my heart now... With whom I'll stay forever... _

Do not name my tomb as Elaina Slytherin, because she died long before with Zar. The body you will bury would be soulless and grayed by the mere spite of the façade called Salazar Slytherin.

She, standing in front of the same fireplace, where she had laughed with her friends, grasping a small vial and then drinking it in a single gulp, and finally falling to the hearthrug gracefully like the last lap of a prima ballerina...

James keeled over and gasped for air as if he had just been hit by a Bludger square in the chest. He had somehow felt her pain in the short journey that she had allowed him.

_Can a loving and normal man turn into a power hungry beast? Does he, himself, have the affinity to become one? Has he offended more people than he made laugh?_ Such numerous questions throbbed in his mind, while he balanced his posture.

"You don't have to be all-knowing and all-doing to attract anyone's attention, Mr. Potter. I hope you rethink your priorities again," she said and bowed her head in a half curtsy.

"Milady," James bowed, his voice shaking with emotions.

It was almost daybreak when he left the room--which sealed by itself--unaware of the fact that he had stood his friends up. They had made for the dormitory after Madam Pomfrey's visit, sulking with empty stomachs except Peter, and were lying in different states of dishevel in the room they shared.

James could only register the first rays of the sun flitting through the small shafts in the corridor leading towards the Gryffindor common room. The golden beams engulfed him in soothing serenity filling his heart with a new purpose. Giving him hope that someday, he would regain the respect of the one he loved.

-x-


	4. Epilogue

_**A/N: **I had a great time writing this one. Thanks to all those who have given their feedback. Always appreciate it._

_This ends this short tale and now it is complete!_

* * *

**_- Epilogue -_**

* * *

He had been standing there under his invisibility cloak for quite sometime now. At first he had procrastinated, telling himself that she was busy with her friends but when they too left for a stroll, James ran out of ideas for staying hidden from view.

The girl he had been admiring since he could distinguish a normal-girl from a special-girl was sitting beneath a beech tree, concealed by a clump of bushes. For as long as he remembered, she had been his special-girl and his insides had been squirming for spilling the beans from a time unknown; however one way or another something always went wrong whenever he tried to confess his true feelings.

It was different this time; he knew it in his heart, so he finally summoned his courage and whispered, "Lily?"

Lily's head shot up from the Charms book she was poring over. Her brows creased with bewilderment as she looked at the shifty figure of James. She looked about, as if half expecting to see the Marauders pop from behind any of the nearby shrubbery.

"What are you doing here, Potter?" she asked directly. The icy tone almost stung him but he calmed his nerves down by taking few deep breaths.

"I just came to apologize, Ev- Lily."

She raised her eyebrow, readying herself to be turned into a Puffskein.

"Er... I've just realized somehow that I've done more wrong than good," James said clasping his hands in a tight fist behind his back, preventing them from fidgeting or reaching up to tousle his own hair.

"I'm not a bad person, Lily..." he continued, while Lily's eyebrows shot up so fast that they disappeared from view entirely.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, I've never meant to hurt anybody's feelings, especially when I'm in... er... when you're my house-mate," he finished lamely.

She looked at him nonplussed as if not believing what she was hearing; a trace of smile crept onto her face nonetheless.

"You _are_ serious, aren't you?" Lily said, doubt retreating from her voice.

"Yes, totally," he answered sincerely.

She stared at him and after realizing what she was doing, she closed the Charms book ceremoniously, readying to get up.

Instinctively or on cue, James didn't stop to consider; he held out his hand as if he just knew that it was a natural thing to do, like a toddler knows that holding onto an adult's hand will help him take his first step.

Lily took it naturally and with a soft tug she was standing right beside him.

Only a soft touch made heat creep into James' collar and Lily to blush the color of her hair. They stood there awkwardly expecting the other to break the ice, when opportunely James blurted, "Care for a walk?"

She looked at him, in a new light, noticing for the first time how vulnerable he was to her answer.

"Yes," she replied simply, and as naturally as they had held hands they strolled towards the outskirts of the Hogwarts Lake.

_Their souls, who had been bidding their time, at last embraced in happiness, cherishing the togetherness they had at last achieved, because they knew the secret of their love, which would flourish and cross the boundaries of time. So they waited silently in the arms of one another for their nearing destiny. _

_

* * *

Le Fin 

_


End file.
